april 10 // amber rae black + lauren miller

This month’s 2nd Friday features the improbably elaborate drawings of local artists Amber Rae Black and Lauren Miller. We particularly enjoy the way the individual artist’s themes of duality intertwine with the similar use of materials to directly compliment one other. Amber’s work portrays hauntingly hopeful depictions of “life and growth out of pain and loss”. Lauren Miller’s latest series of graphite portraits on birch panel is similarly themed in it’s emphasis on “freedom from deeply rooted lies” and putting faith in the unseen.

What is your medium/process?
I like working in mixed mediums but I usually start with drawing. Drawing is my home. In general, I am in love with a tactile process and being swept up in that moment when the work just flows.

Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Oklahoma.

How would you describe your latest body of work?
All of my current work has, in some way, been inspired by the sudden death of a young loved one and the witnessing of her passing. It began as catharsis and is intended to express both the moment of death and also the exquisite pain that transforms and awakens those left to mourn that loss. I hope the pieces communicate a life and growth that is born out of pain and loss.

What inspires you?
Memories, dreams, personal experiences. I am inspired, in the most part, by personal experiences and tend to work somewhat autobiographically. My art is often an attempt to hold onto or relive a moment or feeling.

How did you get started?
I always made art as a kid and felt most like myself when making art. My parents and grandparents also always encouraged me to keep going. I just never stopped.

What are your goals for the future?
I just want to keep making art and to get better at it. I would also possibly like to do some form of art therapy with children or women someday.

Artists Statement:
The body of work 'Bright Crossing' was inspired by the sudden death of a young loved one and the witnessing of her passing. The work began as catharsis and continued out of a desire to linger in the threshold between life and the moment of death. The mixture of mediums is meant to draw a contrast between the frailty of ephemeral flesh and the bright intangibility of the spiritual. The colors symbolize the spirit but also the life and growth that is born out of pain and loss. The work is intended to express both the moment of a souls departure and also the exquisite pain that transforms and awakens those left to mourn that loss.

LAUREN MILLER

What is your medium/process?
Graphite and acrylic paint on birch panels.

Where are you from?
Oklahoma City

How would you describe your latest body of work?
My collection is about finding freedom from deeply rooted lies I've believed and what it is to place my hope in the unseen God who I've given my life to.

What inspires you?
The beauty that comes with struggle.

How did you get started?
I’ve been creating most of my life.

What are your goals for the future?
To continue to dig deeper and create art that inspires and moves.